Transcoding movies for Android devices using WinFF ffmpeg and Ubuntu

This is the easiest way to get the task done, it is not pretty but it should work fine.  I tried it on Ubuntu 11.04 no problems.


So I was wanting to watch some AVI files on my ZTE V9 Android device, but had to recode them into mp4 before watching.  Unfortunately the stock Ubuntu version of winff does not allow mp4 coding natively, however there is a easy workaround

Following the instructions on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=786095, I did this:

sudo apt-get remove ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential checkinstall git checkinstall libfaac-dev \
    libjack-jackd2-dev libmp3lame-dev libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-amrwb-dev \
    libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev libva-dev libvdpau-dev libvorbis-dev libx11-dev \
    libxfixes-dev libxvidcore-dev texi2html yasm zlib1g-dev
cd
git clone git://git.videolan.org/x264
cd x264
./configure --enable-static
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion="3:$(./version.sh | \
    awk -F'[" ]' '/POINT/{print $4"+git"$5}')" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
    --fstrans=no --default
cd
git clone git://git.videolan.org/ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-libfaac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb \
    --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libx264 \
    --enable-libxvid --enable-nonfree --enable-postproc --enable-version3 --enable-x11grab
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion="5:$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M)-git" --backup=no \
  --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default
hash x264 ffmpeg ffplay ffprobe
cd ~/x264
make distclean
./configure --enable-static
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion="3:$(./version.sh | \
    awk -F'[" ]' '/POINT/{print $4"+git"$5}')" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
    --fstrans=no --default

Install winff using synaptic

apt-get install winff


Download the winff presets from winff site
http://winff.googlecode.com/files/presets-libavcodec52-v6.xml.gz
Extract and copy over the previous ~/.winff/presets.xml  you may want to back up the existing file first.

Open WinFF
In the winff preferences change the path to ffmpeg anf ffplay to:
/usr/local/bin/ffmpeg
/usr/local/bin/ffplay

Looking in the presets, you will notice that there is now a mp4 section and also a Android compatible video section, I chose the Android section for my coding.






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Is the SMSPup Facebook App Safe?

Probably not.

First of all, SMSPup collects marketing information from its clients in exchange for free SMS points.  The more they know about you, the better that picture marketeers have on your demographic.  So, where is the best place for marketers to gather your personal information?  Facebook of course, where you are possibly at your most social and uninhibited.

If you sign up for the SMSPup Facebook app you are greeted with the following...

Access my basic information Includes name, profile picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends, and any other information I've shared with everyone.

Even though that looks like the usual Facebook boilerplate, do you really want to have greasy marketers spying on you?

[Solved] USB Tethering a ZTE V9 SD card using Ubuntu Linux

If you have a ZTE V9 (A.K.A Optus Mytab) and you are tethering it to a linux device, you may be having a little trouble getting the SD car to mount.  Personally, it will mount fine on a windows box but will not mount or show aything in dmesg on my Ubuntu box.

First of all...
You cannot USB mount the SD card and USB Internet tether at the same time, damm.  Portable hotspot still work though!

It is easy to get the USB mounting going though... (Done on Android 2.2)

On the ZTE V9, turn on USB debugging.  Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging


On you Linux machine (mine is Ubuntu 11.04)

gksudo gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/40-usb_modeswitch.rules

Search for "0083" and comment out the whole line, like this.
# ATTRS{idVendor}=="19d2", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0083", RUN+="usb_modeswitch '%b/

You should be able to plug in your USB cable and mount the SD card like any other USB storage device.

If you want to tether the Internet, you will have to unmount the SD card, so you can check the USB Internet tethering box.

If you have trouble, check you dmesg output upon connection, check you lsusb output and make sure that usb_modeswitch is updated.




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Optus 3G Broadband is still slow in 2011

Seriously, this carrier is clearly over allocated.

I tried a Optus 3G prepaid sim card and realised that it is utter crap compared with Dodo prepaid.



Even the city with full, bars it's speed is slower than dial up and the lag is just fucked up!  There have been times that there has been no service for hours even if the modem is reconnected, just frustrating.

Even more fucked up is the dragonistic term and conditions regarding usage:
Usage: is counted in 10MB increments and includes both uploads and downloads. First 30MB per day charged at 10MB.


So download 1kb and get charged for 10Mb???  Sound like a big fucking scam!!!

I would not recommend that you go with Optus 3G where possible.

And seem like I'm not the only one.




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Installing Pyrit on Ubuntu 11.04

You could install pyrit using synaptic, but is usually a older version.

The best way to install the latest version is to download the source and compile it yourself.

But there is a problem satisfying all the dependencies, but we can cheat here.

• Install pyrit using synaptic, version 0.3.0.  Leave it installed on your system.
• Download the latest source from the pyrit website
• Try and compile it python setup.py build if it has a spaz make sure all the dependencies are installed.
  
  I needed to do sudo apt-get install libpcap0.8 libpcap0.8-dev
  and also check g++ python-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev python-scapy while u are there.

•  Once the dependencies are installed sudo python setup.py install

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Lightweight Offline Home Search Page for Android Devices

Every time you open a new window on the Android browser it loads a home page, usually google page by default.
Every time that pages loads, data is sent through the internet to retrieve that page and in most cases the GPS is activated to determine your location to "better help find you".

I have written a small and simple "offline" search web page, to be stored on the SD card and to be configured as the home page.

Advantages:

• Has both DDG and Google search fields
• Instant loading
• Uses less data
• Customisable
• Configurable

Disadvantages:

• My version is very plain
• Your friends wont understand the advantage
• It will be harder for google to track you

Hopefully your web browser does not break the code or go to http://pastebin.com/xr4cSGfd



<meta content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"
http-equiv="content-type">
Search



<input class="query" size="40" name="q"
value="" autofocus="" type="text"><input
class="submit" value="Quack" type="submit">

<input name="q" size="31" maxlength="255"
value="" type="text"><input value="Google Search"
type="submit">







But is should look like this if you make a html page, name it search.html

Go ahead and put this on your android device, I put mine in /sdcard/Documents/search.html

Now in you android browser, type in the location of the search.html file
file:///sdcard/Documents/search.html

Make sure it works for you, then set it as your home page!



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Installing Ubuntu on Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1012) Netbook

Installing Ubuntu 11.04 on a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 1012.

No problems with this install:

• Wireless works, using the proprietary driver.  Check my other blog on how to install the b43 driver
• Bluetooth is good
• Ethernet works
• No problems with special keys on the keyboard
• Webcam works good with Cheese
• TV tuner is good, firmware required, see other blog for instructions

lspci dump

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation N10 Family DMI Bridge
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation N10 Family Integrated Graphics Controller
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation N10 Family Integrated Graphics Controller
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation NM10 Family LPC Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH7 Family SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller (rev 02)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11b/g LP-PHY (rev 01)
0b:00.0 Multimedia controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM70015 Video Decoder [Crystal HD]


lsusb dump

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. USB 2.0 multicard reader
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 2040:2011 Hauppauge WinTV MiniCard [Dell Digital TV Receiver]
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:641d Microdia
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub





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[Solved] Installing aircrack-ng on Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1012) Netbook b43

Fuck Broadcom propriety shit!

Scenario:
aircrack-ng wont work out the box on a stock ubuntu 11.04 install, that is because it is using the wl driver.

1. Install aircrack-ng suite
2. Disable wl driver
3. Remove bcmwl
4. Install compat-wireles & patches.

Checkout and compile the latest svn of aircrack-ng
sudo apt-get install svn
svn co http://trac.aircrack-ng.org/svn/trunk/ aircrack-ng

sudo apt-get install iw

Check wl is blacklisted
cd /etc/modprobe.d
cat * | grep wl

Enter synaptic, Completly remove bcmwl
You may notice nm-applet is saying "firmware no loaded" if you try to connect with wireless - good

I followed instructions on the aircrack-ng site to install compat-wireless and patch for aircrack, then install Broadcom firmware BS!
source: http://aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=compat-wireless

wget http://wireless.kernel.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/compat-wireless-$(date -I).tar.bz2
tar -jxf compat-wireless-$(date -I).tar.bz2
cd compat-wireless-$(date -I)
wget http://patches.aircrack-ng.org/mac80211.compat08082009.wl_frag+ack_v1.patch
wget http://patches.aircrack-ng.org/channel-negative-one-maxim.patch
patch -p1 < mac80211.compat08082009.wl_frag+ack_v1.patch
patch -p1 < channel-negative-one-maxim.patch
./scripts/driver-select b43
make
sudo make install
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter firmware-b43-installer
sudo modprobe -r b43 ssb
sudo modprobe b43

check it! (assume your wlan is wlan0)
sudo airmon-ng start wlan0
sudo aireplay-ng -9 mon0

Now make it work properly on boot (important).
ref: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/184600/comments/34

To make ssb not load you have to blacklist it, reboot and execute

sudo update-initramfs -k all -u

If you fail to do this, ssb is loaded before b43 and it will cause error sand the b43 module will fail to load correctly.  Lots of ssb and b43 errors in your dmesg.

Remember to unblacklist ssb after the update-initramfs.

If you still have this problem, I suggest that you make a script in your init.d


#!/bin/sh
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r b43
modprobe b43
modprobe ssb

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[Solved] NM-Applet buttons not working on Ubuntu 11.04

For some reason, I could not click my nm-applet buttons.  Trolled the net to find a solution.  Gnome classic - no effects.

compiz --replace

Your desktop will go spastic for a few seconds.


source: https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity-shell/+bug/757002





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How to Dell TV tuner Ununtu Linux for Inspiron Mini 10 (1012) Netbook

This is groin grabbingly simple to get going....

Check if you have the same hardware by doing a lsusb, you should see something like this.
2040:2011 Hauppauge WinTV MiniCard [Dell Digital TV Receiver]

Install the firmware onto your system.
wget http://steventoth.net/linux/sms1xxx/sms1xxx-hcw-55xxx-dvbt-02.fw
cp sms1xxx-hcw-55xxx-dvbt-02.fw /lib/firmware/.

Open synaptic and install metv.

Reboot, check your dmesg to see if the firmware is loaded.

If it checks out ok the you can open metv and strart the tuning wizard.  Use an outdoor antenna, the little one supplied is crap.

Thats it, enjoy!


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Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1012) Netbook Review

I got this the other day...

Not to bad, got rid of windows crap and installed Ubuntu / Backtrack5

Good battery, fanless, sd card reader...

Touchpad sucks big time, mouse buttons are integrated on the touch pad and it tends to make the mouse jump when a click is done.

Mine has a TV tuner as well.

Since it is fanless, it seem to be hot under the cpu side, this makes the keyboard hot on the right side and  cold on the left.

Function keys do not work unless a fn key is pressed first.  This means changing consoles requires 5 keys to be hit now.

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Networking and Computing Videos

A great resource, this guy teaches very well.  If you don't want to read pages of stuff then eli's videos are what you need.  Subject include networking and computing and also other Stuff.

Everyman Videos






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R&S FSH3 Handheld Spectrum Analyser Review Rohde & Schwarz

I had the privilege using one of these babies during a RF job.  Not too bad, good screen and good size.

If you want to pull images off it, there is a optical serial port, but I must warn you that it is crap, half the time we got errors half way during a dump.  Even slowing it down to 9600 did not help


Battery life is moderate and the bandwidth is 100 kHz to 3 GHz.

There are options, we had two, one with the RF generator and one without.  The RF generator could be used to sweep check filters, SWR cables....

 

 

 

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Old School, Pentium II Slot, Tear Down

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Testing fake USB Flash Drives with H2testw

Fuck those pricks that want to rip people off, selling fake drives on eBay.  Some people buy these cheap drives on ebay without knowing that they could be fake.

Using H2testw program is the simplest way of testing your flash drive.  You just download the zip and run the executable on a windows crap box.
Direct download

FAIL!

If you have a failed drive, you should try to get your money back from the person who sold it to you and chuck the drive out!






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Duckduckgo.com my new search engine

Why is google becoming like Microsoft.  M$ think they can control people and tell them what they should like and google are doing the same.


Lately the implementation of google instant on searches and their slight UI tewakings have caused me to start scratching for alternatives.

Duckduckgo.com seems to have all the advantages I want.

No Bubbling
No Tracking
SSL Searches
Ability to do google only searches

Plus you can tailor your search engine and save it by a cookie or a custom URL which has your setting within the URL.

Give it a shot today.  https://duckduckgo.com/






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